“It does not inspire confidence in relation to things like crossing the border etc., that one’s political views – which frankly U.S. border officials can always ask you about – could be potentially augmented by this kind of information gathering and sharing.”

Vonn said that just by publicly wanting this information the government can intimidate people into not going to websites they have every legal right to.

“We don’t necessarily know how all that information is used but potentially one of the ways it is popping back up is when Canadians are attempting to visit the U.S., and that can have an impact on their lives,” said Meghan Sali with Open Media.

She said it also leaves the door open for the U.S. to possibly share information with the Canadian government, which it might not otherwise have access to.